


Maybe Our Friends Were the Stop Signs We Missed Along the Way

by one_true_houselight



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Bullying Mention, Fluff, Gen, Some Stangst, Stan teaches Soos to drive, because we have fun here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:47:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28655949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_true_houselight/pseuds/one_true_houselight
Summary: Stan decides to help teach Soos how to drive.
Relationships: Jesus "Soos" Alzamirano Ramirez & Stan Pines
Comments: 17
Kudos: 51
Collections: Stanuary





	Maybe Our Friends Were the Stop Signs We Missed Along the Way

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welcome to this very nice fluff! Please enjoy!

It was a cold January evening when Stan Pines wandered outside to find his 16 year old handyman curled up into himself on the Mystery Shack's front step. This wasn't odd, per say, except the Shack had closed over an hour ago, and Soos was usually gone by now. 

"Uh," murmured Stan, startling Soos into sitting up. "You got a ride coming?"

"I missed the bus."

"When's the next one?" 

Soos checked his watch. "43 minutes." Stan looked out at the sunset, and realized the sun would be down before then. 

"Why don't you come inside? S'warmer, and we can figure something out."

Soos' voice was quiet, quieter than usual. "I don't want to bother you, Mr. Pines." 

"No bother. I, uh… made too much hot chocolate. And someone's gotta drink it." Stan nodded decisively and walked over to help Soos up. "You'd be doing me a favor, really." Soos nodded wordlessly and let himself be led into the Shack. 

Once Stan had managed to distract Soos from the lack of hot chocolate long enough to make some, he sat down across from him at the small table in his small kitchen area. "Do you want to use a phone to call your grandma?"

"She has plans tonight."

"Alright, I'll give you a ride." Soos looked up and tried to say something, but Stan raised a hand. "I'm taking you home, can't have my handyman getting hypothermia." Soos nodded and drank more hot chocolate. 

As he stared into his almost-empty mug, Soos said something under his breath. Stan looked up. "Say again?"

"thank-you-for-telling-those-kids-to-stop-today." Stan's eyes widened a little. He had almost forgotten about that. That afternoon, some bored looking tourists had come in, and started harassing Soos. When it became clear they weren't letting up anytime soon, Stan had walked over and shooed them away, barking something about buying something or getting out. It hadn't really phased him, obnoxious tourists weren't exactly rare when you ran a tourist trap. But it had clearly phased Soos. 

"Sure. Couldn't have them talking to you like that." Feeling awkward when Soos didn't look up, he quickly added, "Besides, they could have scared away people were actually gonna buy something." Soos sipped his drink in lieu of a response. 

A few minutes later, Soos finished his hot chocolate, and he stood up to follow Stan outside. The wind was blowing harder now, and Stan was relieved to get to the relative shelter of his car. Soos carefully climbed in and sat in the passenger seat, his back ramrod straight, hands folded in his lap. Stan raised an eyebrow at him as he started up the car. "You can relax, kid, I'm not some foreign dignitary." He watched as Soos' shoulders dropped half an inch, and figured that was good enough for now. 

The first part of the trip was silent, save for Soos giving the occasional direction. At one point, Stan looked over at Soos and asked, "You're sixteen, right?" When Soos nodded, Stan asked, "You got a license yet?"

Soos shook his head quickly, and Stan could see the fear flash across his face. "Just my permit."

"Nervous?"

"Yeah."

"Well," said Stan, gesturing expansively, "the secret to driving is to know where you're going, and then don't hit anything too hard in getting there."

"I don't think the person testing me will appreciate that." Stan scoffed. "Anyway, I don't really get a chance to practice, Abuelita is busy, and I'm sc-nervous."

Later, if you asked Stan, he wouldn't be able to tell you _why_ he did what he did next. But in that moment, he saw a look he knew too well, on an oft bullied, nervous kid, and something deep in his psyche blurted out, "I'll teach ya."

Before Stan had a chance to decide if he regretted it, Soos turned to look at him, eyes lighting up. "Really, Mr. Pines?"

"Yeah, why not? I'm certainly the best driver in this town," Stan said, blissfully ignoring a stop sign. "We'll go out after work." 

"Thank you so much Mr. Pines." At that point, they pulled up to Soos' house, and Soos climbed out the car. "I won't let you down!" 

The car door had already closed when Stan quietly replied, "I know, kid."

~~~

The first driving lesson started in the Mystery Shack parking lot, and was remaining there longer than Stan had expected. "Soos, you just have to ease your foot off the brake."

"I'm trying." The car lurched backwards an inch before jolting back to a stop. Soos laughed nervously. "This is just like Coraljeff."

"What the hell's a Coraljeff?"

"Coraljeff Rhombusslacks. It's a tv show, and he has trouble driving, and-" Soos looked over to see Stan looking lost and quickly changed gears. "I'm just worried, what if I do something to your car?"

Stan snorted. "Soos, this car has been chased by a mob with flaming pitchforks. You'll be fine. Now, just go, your instincts will take over."

"I don't think I have those."

"What, instincts? Everyone's got 'em." Soos looked unsure, so Stan gently said, "Just take it one step at a time. Just slowly back up."

Soos carefully let his foot off the brake, and was just starting to fully back up, when a giant pickup truck came roaring out of nowhere. Soos jammed on the brake, and the truck barely missed them, loudly pulling a u-turn further in the lot. 

"Hey!" yelled Stan, rolling his window down as he pushed his entire upper body out. "Watch where you're going! You could've killed us!" The truck driver flipped the bird at him as he drove back out, a gesture Stan enthusiastically returned before looking down at his contorted body.

"See Soos? You do have instincts."

"Yeah! I stopped in time!"

"Now, I need you to do me a favor."

"What's up?"

"Turn the car back off, and come help me get out of this damn window."

~~~

They had made it out of the parking lot a few times now, and Stan was starting to try and get Soos to relax enough to not clench the wheel so hard it left marks. "Soos, you can go a little faster."

"I'm just trying to be careful."

"Soos, that horse and buggy just passed us, and it's not even _Pioneer Day_ ," Stan said with a shudder. When Soos did not react, he added, "Besides, it's actually safer to keep up with traffic."

"Oh. Ok." Soos sped up a little. As they drove, and Soos carefully navigated the curves in the road, Stan watched him relax a little. "Mr. Pines, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Your license plate says 'Stanley Mobile', but your name is Stanford, right?" 

It was Stan's turn to tense up. He _knew_ it was stupid to keep his plate, but- "Oh, that?" he said, laughing. "Stanford wouldn't fit, so I just went with a similar name." He laughed again, hoping Soos wouldn't notice how fake it sounded. 

"That makes sense." Soos didn't say anything else about it, and Stan slowly relaxed. With any luck, Soos would never know the real reasoning…

Stan would just disappear one day, never to be seen again. He angrily pushed the thought away. Nothing good could come from dwelling on the future, especially when he didn't really have one. Just focus on what's right in front of you. Speaking of-

"Soos, deer!" The screeched to a halt, and they looked at the deer standing idly in the road. Stan waved his hand at it. "Shoo. Get out of the road." The deer stared at him. 

Soos rolled his window down and stuck out a hand. "I've always wanted to pet a deer." To Stan's surprise, the deer slowly walked up to Soos and let him scratch its head. 

"I don't think you should be petting wildlife."

"I know, but they're so soft."

"What are you, a Dashney princess?"

"I wish," Soos said solemnly, waving his hand to get the deer out of the road. "Be careful, Gladys." The newly named Gladys trotted off into the forest, and Soos started driving again. 

Stan peered up the road. "Take a left up here, it's a good place to practice hills."

Soos looked at Stan out of the corner of his eye. "Um. There's a road closed sign."

"Those signs are made out of like, wet tissue paper or something. Just drive through." Soos shrugged and made the turn, ripping through the sign. "See? People just don't build things to last being crashed through by cars anymore. This'll be a lesson to them."

Soos laughed at that, and Stan was pleased to see that he was the most relaxed he'd seen the teen since they started these lessons. _See,_ he thought, _just focus on what's in front of you…_

~~~

Soos and Stan were parked in a gas station parking lot, staring at the large sign indicating the exit onto the highway. "Alright," said Stan, "this is it. You've become a big fish in a small pond in Gravity Falls. It's time to take those skills onto the interstate."

"That's not the interstate, Mr. Pines."

"That's besides the point."

Soos drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "You know, I just remembered. I have things I need to do, maybe-"

"What things, Soos? Tell me the things, and I'll let you go." 

"Well…" After it became clear that he was not going to elaborate, Stan clapped him on the shoulder.

"Look, I know the highway can be intimidating, but think of it this way: most accidents happen within five, ten miles of your house. And we're at least twelve, so-" Soos' eyes were starting to look like dinner plates, so Stan quickly added, "But you aren't going to get in an accident anywhere, you're gonna be fine." 

Soos, still looking nervous, sighed, and gripped the steering wheel. "Let's do this." He pulled out of the parking lot and drove towards the exit. He took the ramp, and was soon at the merge point onto the highway.

"Alright, what do we do now?"

"Signal, check mirrors, check blind spot," recited Soos as he did so. "Um. There's someone in my blind spot."

"Alright, speed up a little." Stan looked back as Soos did so and watched the car speed up with him, stubbornly remaining in the blind spot.

"Mr. Pines, what do I do?"

"Try slowing down, let 'em go." Stan was almost fully turned around now, and had managed to make eye contact with the other driver. He glared at them, and when they didn't move, he slowly pulled his hand out of his jacket to reveal his brass knuckles. The other driver went white and slowed down, letting Soos neatly merge into the travel lane.

"I did it! I'm on the highway!"

"Exactly. See Soos, driving is just one big negotiation," said Stan, pocketing his brass knuckles. "You gotta know when to let it go, and when to hold the line."

As they drove and Soos got more comfortable, Stan turned on the radio. _Hello Oregon, and welcome to KTOR. Next up, BABBA's hit song, Disco Girl!_

"Oh, I love this song!" Soos turned up the radio. Stan rolled his eyes.

"It's ok, I guess."

" _Disco Girllllll, coming throuuuuugh, that girl is youuuuuu_ ," sang Soos, and Stan realized that this was the most confident he'd seen him yet. When Soos looked to the side and saw him grinning, he grinned back and said, "See, you like the song too!"

"Like I said, it's _ok_. If anything, I'm a disco woman, haven't been-" The chorus came back and Soos started belting, drowning out any half-assed point Stan might have tried to make, and as they drove off, he didn't think it was that much of a point, anyway.

~~~

It was almost a month later when Stan was interrupted from his morning routine by a car horn from the parking lot. He grabbed his hat and eye patch and went outside, already yelling, "We're not open yet-Soos!" Soos was sitting in a beat-up, brown pickup truck, waving furiously. 

"I got my license, and Abuelita had some money saved, and I did too, and I got this!"

"You didn't buy it from Bud, did you?" Stan asked as he walked around the truck. 

"Nope, I've got a friend a few towns over."

"Good." Stan kicked a tire experimentally. "Looks like a good car, Soos. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Mr. Pines." Soos hopped out and walked towards the Shack. Stan looked at the license plate (FIXINIT1) and chuckled. He went inside to find Soos standing at the counter. "What's up, Soos?"

"I want to buy one of these," Soos said, and laid down a Mystery Shack bumper sticker. 

"Ah, just take it," said Stan waving his hand as he went into the back to finish getting ready.

Soos looked shocked. "Really?"

"Yeah. I pickpocketed a bunch of tourists yesterday, that'll cover it." Soos laughed and grabbed the sticker, heading for the front door.

"You're jokes are so funny, Mr. Pines."

As the door closed, Stan grinned. "Yep. Jokes."

~~~

Years later, when it was time for his great-niece and nephew to start learning to drive, they were shocked to find that their Grunkle was surprisingly not awful at teaching. 

"How'd you get so good at this, Grunkle Stan?" asked Mabel.

"Good? He just told you to break through a road closed sign," Dipper said from the back, punctuated by a cut off screech.

"What can I say," said Grunkle Stan, "I'm good at helping my family."

"Aww," said Mabel, speeding into a turn.

"I'm getting Ford to teach me," moaned Dipper.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! you can find me @one-true-houselight on tumblr. I'm also working on a Portal/Gravity Falls crossover (among other things) if that piques your interest. Have a good day!


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